1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a contents market research system, a contents market research apparatus, a contents polling apparatus, a contents market research method that are used for contents market research, and a computer-readable recording medium that stores a program to be executed by use of a computer to perform the contents market research. More particularly, this invention relates to a contents market research system, a contents market research apparatus, a contents polling apparatus, a contents market research method that are used for market research of a picture content before commercialization, and a computer-readable recording medium that stores a program to be executed by use of a computer to perform the market research of a picture content before commercialization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with popularization of home digital video cameras and image editing apparatus or the like, anyone can take a high quality picture and edit it easily. Some picture content taken as described hereinabove are sufficiently usable commercially as movies, and it is expected that a contents creating company, who commercializes content, commercializes such picture content.
When the picture content is commercialized, it is desirable to grasp the market trend such as propensity of consumers, age group to be targeted, and timing in order to select the correct picture content that reflects the market trend. Heretofore, it has been usual for selecting the picture content to be commercialized that the selection is relied on a planning company, who is an expert in a field such as movie or television program. The planning company who received a request selects a picture content that is supposed to fit to the market trend based on the market research skill and experience, and the content producing company selects the picture content to be commercialized according to the judgment of the planning company, stores the selected picture content in a recording medium such as DVD or the like, and sells the recording medium or distributes the picture content with charge through the Internet.
As a method for grasping the market trend exactly as described hereinabove, for example, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 8-163538 is proposed for the case of digital television broadcast, in which the audience rating of a broadcasted program is returned through a telephone line in the form of the data that indicates the number of tuning times of a receiving apparatus, and the data is used for reference in preparation of the broadcast program in future. Furthermore, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 10-93950 discloses a method in which an audience who has gained the impression from a program among broadcasted programs polls a ballot for the program through a telephone line to form the data in the broadcast station, and the data is used for preparation of the program in future. However, in these methods, the comment of an audience on a commercialized picture content that has been delivered to the audience is collected for reflecting the comment in preparation of the program in future, but the comment of an audience on a picture content that is not yet commercialized is not collected.
Another example is described herein under. Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 9-175504 proposes a method in which there is a membership group to which an artist can present the work on the Internet, the presented work is ranked based on the polling by audiences, and other audiences purchase the work with reference to the ranking. However, also in this case, the work that has been already commercialized is ranked based on polling, the rank is opened, and the opened work is sold. Therefore, it is not the case that the work that is not yet commercialized is presented. This method does not suggest whether the work that is not yet commercialized and only in planning will be a great hit or not, and does not indicate the commercial profitability of the business.
It is a problem that the commitment for selection of the picture content to the above-mentioned planning company or the like costs high.
It is another problem that the survey for selection takes a long time and the picture content cannot be commercialized promptly in the case of commitment for selection of the picture content to the above-mentioned planning company or the like.
Furthermore, it is another problem that whether the picture content is selected by the planning company exactly or not depends on the capability in market research and information collection, experience, and the talent of the personnel, and it is not easy to find a planning company who is suitable and skilled in the picture content field.
Furthermore, particularly in the recently years when the consumer preference changes quickly, the marketability of the picture content selected by the planning company can change in a short time, it is a problem that a suitable picture content cannot be commercialized in this case.
Furthermore, in the case of conventional methods, the detailed marketability of the picture content should be surveyed after commercialization separately from the selection of the picture content, and it is another problem that the additional survey costs high.
In the case of the above-mentioned Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 10-93950, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 8-163538, and Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 9-171504, the business profitability of the work cannot be estimated accurately before the work is commercialized.